GM & Chrysler: No Soup For You

In a pleasant surprise, the Obama Administration pushed back against inadequate progress by automakers in their restructuring:

President Obama announced today that his administration will withhold additional federal aid to General Motors and Chrysler unless the ailing U.S. automakers submit acceptable restructuring plans, but he vowed that the American auto industry will not be allowed to "simply vanish."

It is my preference that the automakers were in bankruptcy and doing their restructuring there already, without a direct line of credit from the US taxpayers.  It is also my hope that the Obama Administration understands the difference between having an auto industry and having these three particular companies manufacturing autos.  But today's announcement is better than what I had expected.